If you ask me, no holiday meal is complete without good ol’ Cranberry Sauce. Growing up, I was completely satisfied with slicing the store-bought version straight out of the can. I didn’t even realize that there was an alternative. I guess cranberry sauce was a little of an afterthought for my family, but certainly not for me.
Since realizing that cranberry sauce was actually something I could make, I’ve tried a few different versions. However, my favorite has and will always be an easy cranberry sauce. No frills, no fuss. Just a few simple ingredients tossed together in a pot to make an easy side dish. Now that I know how easy it is to make, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the can? Why would I?!
Making This Easy Cranberry Sauce
Making this cranberry sauce is so effortless to put together! If you can boil water, you can make this side dish! In fact, that’s how you start. Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil along with the brown sugar. Once it’s boiling, you’ll add in the fresh cranberries along with the spices. After this, you’ll notice that the cranberries themselves start to burst. This is good!
Personally, I’m okay with the natural texture that forms when the cranberries burst on their own and start to combine with the sugar and spices. When you let them do their thing, the end result is a chunkier cranberry sauce with bits of cranberries everywhere. Alternatively, you could break up the cranberries a bit more by using a fork or potato masher. To make them even more smooth, you could transfer them to a food processor.
If you’re making this for a holiday meal, you’ll be happy to learn that this is the perfect side dish to make in advance. I made this recipe the day before Thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but as much as I love cooking, I don’t want to be in the kitchen all day and night! I prefer to space out my cooking, so needless to say I was happy to be able to make this cranberry sauce in advance. Plus, it seems like the flavors come together more when you let it sit in the fridge overnight.
I know you’ll love this easy cranberry sauce! It comes together in no time, plus only requires 5 ingredients! Try it out and let me know what you think of it in the comments below!
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Easy Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries
- 1 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp allspice
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot, bring the water and brown sugar to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the cranberries, salt, cinnamon and allspice to the mixture and return to a boil. Stir to combine.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Once consistency has thickened, remove from heat and let cool to continue to thicken.
- Once cooled enough, transfer the cranberry sauce to the fridge (if desired).
- Once chilled, enjoy!
That looks delicious! How long will it last in the fridge?
Thanks Shai! I’d say for up to one week.
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